Palmyra dumps Dauphin for twilight win

Four pitchers combined for a 10-0 East Shore victory

Palmyra's Dustin Stuck slides in safely with a stolen base ahead of the tag of Dauphin shortstop Tyler Sinkovitz in the first inning of Monday's East Shore Twilight League matchup at Palmyra Area High School. Stuck would go on to score the game's first run — and two more — as Palmyra rolled to a 10-0 win. (Earl Brightbill — Lebanon Daily News)

PALMYRA &GT;&GT; It has a new manager and a number of new, younger faces throughout its roster.

But thus far, those seem to be the only aspects in which the 2014 Palmyra twilight baseball team differs from previous editions.

A consistent playoff and/or championship contender since it joined the East Shore Twilight League in 2008, Palmyra appears destined for similar status again this summer. At least if its most recent performance is any indication.

Excelling in all phases of the game, Palmyra improved to 3-0 in the early going with a 10-0 drubbing of Dauphin on Monday night at Palmyra Area High School.

Four pitchers — Travis Risser, Josh Sollenberger, Tim Edwards and Tanner Fitting — combined on a two-hitter and struck out 13, and Tyler Morder led a 14-hit attack with three hits and four RBIs as Palmyra piled up all 10 of its runs in its first three at-bats and cruised home from there.

"I'm real happy," said Palmyra's rookie manager John Baker, who appears to have ample reason for such feelings. "I've got 25 guys and I don't see a weakness anywhere right now, to be honest with you. There's no drop off with substitutes. That does make my job a little tricky as far as getting guys playing time, but the team is committed to checking egos at the door and being a team. Anybody at any time can contribute."

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Though Morder was the hitting star and Risser got the machine-like pitching going with five strikeouts in his two-inning start, just about each and every one of the 15 different Palmyra players who saw action on Monday impacted the game positively in one way or another.

Catcher and Lebanon Catholic alum Dustin Arnold drove in Dustin Stuck with an RBI single for the game's first run in the bottom of the first, and Trey Baker followed with a two-run single before Morder capped the early uprising with a hustling two-RBI double to right-center.

Palmyra's Josh Sollenberger delivers a pitch during Monday's 10-0 win over Dauphin in East Shore Twilight League action. Sollenberger picked up the win in relief, striking out four in two innings of work. (Earl Brightbill — Lebanon Daily News)

Morder would add a two-run single in the second that was preceded by RBI hits by Garrett Getz and Zach Stuart, and Arnold chipped in with a run-scoring single in the third that gave Palmyra a nice round number of runs for relievers Sollenberger, Edwards and Fitting to work with.

"We're very young, but we have a lot of young talent," said Baker, whose roster includes players in the 18-22 age range. "Anybody at any time can contribute, and that's a tribute to these guys. They're willing teammates, and the more senior guys are helping the younger guys. We've got a mix."

That was apparent on the mound as well on Monday, where 2003 Palmyra grad and former Tampa Bay Rays farmhand Risser was followed by fellow Palmyra alum and rising Elizabethtown College junior Sollenberger, 2014 Hershey High grad Edwards and 2013 Annville-Cleona alum Fitting.

They were all pretty much lights out, with each registering at least two strikeouts in their short stints on the hill. Southpaw Sollenberger was credited with the win after working the third and fourth innings.

"Some are seasoned, some are not so seasoned," Baker said of his pitching staff, which also includes former Elco and Messiah College hurler Travis Thome and new Cedar Crest grad Conor Bawiec. "We're turning some throwers into pitchers, and guys are helping each other with that aspect. They've learned different things at different colleges and they bring that to each other. That's the kind of thing you need."

Palmyra starter Travis Risser, who recorded five of six outs via the strikeout in his two innings of work, delivers against Dauphin on Monday. (Earl Brightbill — Lebanon Daily News)

Whether it will all be enough in the end to give Palmyra a second East Shore championship — it captured its only crown in 2011 and fell in the championship series to Lawnton last season — remains to be seen. But it certainly wouldn't be a shock, either.

"We haven't talked about it too much," Baker said of contending for the title. "We'll worry about that later. There's a lot of good teams in this league. You look at the Lawntons, the Linglestowns, the Middletowns... And these guys scrap; Dauphin's got some good athletes on their team. You can face a stud pitcher any night."

Palmyra's Dustin Stuck relaxing with man's best friend. That's what you do when you're up 10-0 in the 5th. pic.twitter.com/kj3iWUkr8S